Most motor racing fans will no doubt associate Ken Tyrrell and his Formula 1 team with the three World Championship titles Jackie Stewart won while driving for the team. However, the Tyrrell story is much more than these historic three titles and in fact spans almost 40 years.
The book’s author Richard Jenkins has been involved in motor racing research for over 20 years now and the first outlet for his work was the website oldracingcars.com, where his “Where Are They Now?” section documented several thousand profiles of racing drivers.
Jenkins’ first book was published only three years ago and was entitled “Richie Ginther: Moto Racing’s Free Thinker” which received universal praise thanks to his meticulous research and engaging narrative. This debut book also won him the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Award, which was quite an accomplishment.
After his second biography, “Mike Spence: Out of the Shadows”, Jenkins has now turned his attention to the history of a team rather than a man, with this new book, and what better team to focus on than Tyrrell.
The book begins by looking at the early years of Tyrrell, which saw forays as an entrant in Formula Junior in 1960 to the team’s eventual demise in 1998. Ken Tyrrell was very much a larger-than-life team proprietor and was always universally respected in the Formula 1 paddock, viewed by many as the plucky underdog.
Jenkins interviewed dozens of team members ranging from drivers to mechanics, to gather their memories and present an energetic, touching, compelling and above all entertaining book which coincides with the 50th anniversary year of Tyrrell’s last championship title. This comprehensive book will no doubt be treasured by many racing enthusiasts for years to come.
The early chapters look at Ken Tyrrell’s career as a racing driver in the 1950s before moving on to become an entrant of Formula Junior and Formula 3 single-seaters in the early 1960s.
Having established himself in Formula 2 with Jackie Stewart, his star driver, Tyrrell also claimed the Formula 2 European title with Jacky Ickx in 1967 before moving into Formula 1 the following year when he linked up with French constructor Matra, and remarkably won the 1969 World Championship with Jackie Stewart at the wheel.
Tyrrell achieved almost immediate success as a constructor in what was a golden era of motorsport, bringing home two more Formula 1 titles with Jackie Stewart, in 1971 and 1973, but sadly ending in tragedy with the death of François Cevert.
Many enthusiasts will remember the extraordinary six-wheeler racing car, when Tyrrell sprung one of Formula 1’s biggest surprises with this radical design that won a race but ultimately proved to be unsuccessful.
When the turbo engine cars emerged, Tyrrell found himself falling down the grid but managing to achieve final victories in glitzy city races in America, with Las Vegas in 1982 and Detroit in 1983.
The team’s twilight years were extended with occasional flashes of excellence, most notably from Jean Alesi in 1990, but Tyrrell’s latter years were difficult ones as Formula 1 also-rans, and sadly ended in 1998 after being takeover by BAR.
Having been fortunate enough to have visited the Tyrrell factory in Woking in the mid-1990s, I particularly enjoyed this thoroughly informative and in depth look at one of motor racing’s more colourful Formula 1 teams.
Publication date: 27th July 2023
UK price: £90.00
ISBN: 978-1-910505-67-0
Format: 280 x 235mm, hardback
Pages: 480 with over 500 mainly colour images
Tyrrell: The Story Of The Tyrrell Racing Organisation
By Richard Jenkins
Foreward by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE
Published by Evro Publishing
For more information and to purchase your own copy of the book, please visit the Evro Publishing website. It is also available at Amazon, Blackwell’s and Hortons Books.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel, a member of The Guild of Motoring Writers, professional photographer and former saloon car racing driver.
Images courtesy of Evro Publishing
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